Drumheads were long made of natural products, most preferably calf skin, stretched over a drum body opening. More recently, polymer films have been developed for forming drumheads where the polymer film is formed, cut to a specific size and attached to a hoop. The drumhead is then stretched over a drum body opening and tightened.
The drumhead generates sound when struck with a stick type device, hands, brushes, etc. The "attack"is the initial period of a generated tone. When the drumhead is struck a number of frequencies are excited and the nature of the attack characteristics, the clarity and crispness of the fundamental tones, are developed. Frequency control is the key element to shaping the attack characteristics.
Therefore, as well as being a tone generator, the drumhead must also act as a tone control. There are a number of existing techniques for controlling tone based upon the control of the rate of vibration and/or the suppression of overtones generated when struck. These techniques of drumhead "dampening" offer a means of reaching a desired feel and sound for each individual drummer's taste and discretion. Often, this technique relates to musical application.
Currently, the known techniques for dampening a drumhead include adding an additional element that is applied to the drumhead, i.e., a coating, vinyl applique or adhesive. An example of such an adhesive patch is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,266.
Another method currently used is a dampening or tone control ring, formed of a polymer film placed against the drumhead about the peripheral edge of the drumhead. This technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,139.
Each of these techniques, however, diminish the attack and the overall volume of the head. In most cases, the existing methods for dampening are drastic in effect and offer little or no variation in dampening control.
Moreover, although dampening techniques also effect the tuning of the drum, current methods of dampening limit the amount of usable and effective tuning areas. More often than not, the limitation is that effective tuning of the head is often limited to specific regions of pitch. This is because of the diminishing levels of attack and sustain as a result of other tuning sequences.
An important objective is to control the amount of overtone content without changing, i.e. dulling, the attack characteristics. This is particularly important because the primary sound that human beings relate to in musical listening is attack. In fact, it is considered to be an audio phenomena that the listener is tremendously effected by attack characteristics in tone generated by musical instruments. The attack period of a generated tone communicates the emotion and the rhythmic scheme of a musical performance.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a polymer film drumhead which includes dampening means to improve tone control.
It is a further object to provide a drumhead with dampening means that is easy to produce.
Another objective is to offer the drummer many variations in tone that will render an appropriate drum sound to fit the musical application. For instance, an open ringy sound versus a dull, thuddy, pulsating tone.
Yet another objective is to offer variations in the way the head "feels" to the drummer, i.e., making the striking of the head either feel lively and springy or stiff and boardy in nature. These are choices in sound and feel are totally objective, nevertheless important in terms of providing a comfortable performance environment for the drummer.